After years of waiting, the Catawba Indian Nation will finally break ground on the Kings Mountain casino on Wednesday, according to tribe officials.
“The Catawba Nation is excited to get this long awaited project moving forward,” Catawba Chief Bill Harris said. “The project will have a huge impact on the Cleveland County region bringing much needed jobs as well as on the future of the Catawba Nation.”
The groundbreaking of the 17-acres of land off of Dixon School Road and I-85 will mark the end of seven years of questions of when or if a casino would come to the area.
The nearly $300 million project, could employ at least 5,000 people during the construction phase and another 4,000 when the facility opens, according to the Catawba Indian Nation.
All profits from the casino will go back to the tribe, but the community will see the impact through utility consumption.
The city of Kings Mountain will provide the utilities to help power the gaming facility. Along with that, industries that spring up around the casino will add to the tax base in the community, said Kings Mountain Mayor Scott Neisler in March.
An economic impact study prepared by London & Associates shows the proposed facility could represent a $273 million investment in Cleveland County, and, once operational, the facility could generate $208 million of direct economic activity.
Not everyone is keen on the Catawbas breaking ground for the casino though.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has opposed the building for years, and filed a lawsuit against the decision by the U.S. Department of the Interior to take land in North Carolina into trust for the Catawba Indian Nation of South Carolina to build a casino to stop the construction just days after the announcement was made in March. The original suit included an injunction to stop the Catawba Nation from moving forward, which was denied by a federal judge.
Just two weeks ago, the Cherokees amended the lawsuit and more people joined in the fight.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians filed an amended complaint to its federal lawsuit against the decision by the U.S. Department of the Interior to take land in North Carolina into trust for the Catawba Indian Nation of South Carolina to build a casino. The Cherokee say that the land is historically theirs and should not have gone to the Catawba.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the EBCI and 12 “members” who live near the Kings Mountain site off of Dixon School Road. Additionally, the Cherokee Nation based in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, filed its own amended complaint, seeking to protect cultural artifacts on their ancestral land where the casino is planned.
In the latest amended complaint, the Cherokee is also accusing the Catawba Indian Nation of being apart of “schemes” with casino developer Wallace Cheves to get a casino developed in both North and South Carolina.
“The driving force behind the DOI’s acquisition of land is unsavory but well-connected casino developer in South Carolina, Wallace Cheves, who has prevailed upon the Catawba Indian Nation of South Carolina to lend its name to the scheme and has deployed his influence to reverse the DOI’s long-held position that this type of land-into-trust acquisition is illegal,” read a statement from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
According to the Federal Election Commission, Cheves has made 32 contributions of nearly $500,000 to President Donald Trump, the Republican Party, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis and other GOP lawmakers since December 2019. Under Cheves’s donations, his employer is listed as self-employed, Sky Boat Gaming and Blue Sky Companies.
In the same time frame, the EBCI as a tribe made 40 donations equaling $213,000 to various national party groups.
The lawsuit is still in court, but that is not stopping the Catawba Nation from hoping to open in spring or early-summer of 2021.